Pup.shoptowin

Posted: November 18, 2013

Threat Metric

The Threat Meter is a malware assessment that SpywareRemove.com's research team is able to give every identifiable malware threat. Our Threat Meter includes several criteria based off of specific malware threats to value their severity, reach and volume. The Threat Meter is able to give you a numerical breakdown of each threat's initial Threat Level, Detection Count, Volume Count, Trend Path and Percentage Impact. The overall ranking of each threat in the Threat Meter is a basic breakdown of how all threats are ranked within our own extensive malware database. The scoring for each specific malware threat can be easily compared to other emerging threats to draw a contrast in its particular severity. The Threat Meter is a useful tool in the endeavor of seeking a solution to remove a threat or pursue additional analytical research for all types of computer users.

The following fields listed on the Threat Meter containing a specific value, are explained in detail below:

Threat Level: The threat level scale goes from 1 to 10 where 10 is the highest level of severity and 1 is the lowest level of severity. Each specific level is relative to the threat's consistent assessed behaviors collected from SpyHunter's risk assessment model.

Detection Count: The collective number of confirmed and suspected cases of a particular malware threat. The detection count is calculated from infected PCs retrieved from diagnostic and scan log reports generated by SpyHunter.

Volume Count: Similar to the detection count, the Volume Count is specifically based on the number of confirmed and suspected threats infecting systems on a daily basis. High volume counts usually represent a popular threat but may or may not have infected a large number of systems. High detection count threats could lay dormant and have a low volume count. Criteria for Volume Count is relative to a daily detection count.

Trend Path: The Trend Path, utilizing an up arrow, down arrow or equal symbol, represents the level of recent movement of a particular threat. Up arrows represent an increase, down arrows represent a decline and the equal symbol represent no change to a threat's recent movement.

% Impact (Last 7 Days): This demonstrates a 7-day period change in the frequency of a malware threat infecting PCs. The percentage impact correlates directly to the current Trend Path to determine a rise or decline in the percentage.

Ranking:	2,144
Threat Level:	1/10
Infected PCs:	61,248

First Seen:	November 18, 2013
Last Seen:	October 16, 2023
OS(es) Affected:	Windows

ShopToWin is an adware program that displays partnered shopping deals and claims to reward purchasers with entries into daily and annual sweepstakes for monetary prizes. Malware analysts aren't able to provide any confirmation that ShopToWin actually gives prizes out to participants, but warn that ShopToWin has many traits associated with adware, including distribution methods that encompass websites known for dabbling in PUPs, adware and browser hijackers. ShopToWin also has been seen being installed through even worse sources than that, such as compromised software updates from unofficial sources. Whether you find ShopToWin through these means or other avenues, deleting ShopToWin with suitable anti-adware software always is to be encouraged as the safest possible response.

The Questionable Race to Win at Clicking Advertisements

Many adware programs present their advertisements as advantageous for the PC user in some way – most frequently, as supposedly excellent bargains for letting the casual online shopper save a little money. ShopToWin takes this a step further by claiming to pay money directly to shoppers who accept its sponsored offers, albeit in the form of a virtual lottery that pays several hundred dollars daily and thousands by the year. On the other hand, ShopToWin doesn't claim that its sponsored deals are necessarily the best shopping options available, and you may actually lose money by participating in ShopToWin's offers without researching your purchases beforehand.

Along with independent installation methods from suspicious sites, ShopToWin also sometimes is installed through software-bundling techniques and, in rare cases, through compromised and unofficial patches for Java. This latter method is another good reason for malware researchers to encourage avoiding unofficial sources for updates to safe software, with the ongoing possibility of compromised patches being used for distributing ShopToWin and other types of unwanted (and potentially harmful) software.

Shopping for a Better Source of Money Than ShopToWin

Despite ShopToWin's enthusiastic marketing for the individuals ShopToWin is supposedly enriched with its partnered advertisement campaign, there still is no such thing as free money, and malware experts would suggest looking elsewhere for sources of earning cash through shopping online. Companies that offer similar 'bargains' to ShopToWin without ShopToWin's adware-reminiscent drawbacks are numerous and can be identified as legitimate through unhidden customer bases and long term business histories. Whether or not ShopToWin actually awards any money to its users, letting ShopToWin display advertisements automatically in your browser never should be thought of as a safe or ideal way to earn money online. ShopToWin may undertake other activities that harm the overall performance of your browser, causing sluggish Web page loading and interaction.

However, if ShopToWin was installed, uninstalling ShopToWin should include good anti-malware products that can remove ShopToWin fully while also detecting any other unwanted software that may have infiltrated your PC along with ShopToWin. Since ShopToWin is a recently-identified adware program, malware experts also feel it worth reminding readers that outdated anti-malware products may be unable to detect new PC threats. Updating any threat databases before an anti-malware scan always should be considered a baseline procedure for keeping your computer safe from ShopToWin, other types of adware and even high-level PC threats.

Technical Details

Additional Information

The following URL's were detected:

.stream-all.commy-safesearch.com